Terrorism South Africa

A large car bomb exploded outside a military headquarters in central Johannesburg on Thursday morning, injuring more than 70 people and damaging dozens of downtown buildings. Although the explosion appeared to be the largest yet in a South African city, there were no fatalities and relatively few serious injuries, according to police.

South African Minister for Safety and Security Sydney Mufamadi vowed to end a wave of urban terror in Cape Town and catch the bombers who injured 11 people in a blast in the city Thursday. Police said earlier that Thursday's bomb at Cape Town's main police station was similar to 15 others used in attacks attributed to militant Muslims in the tourist center. Nine of the 11 victims were treated in hospitals. All but five, who were awaiting surgery for wounds and burns, were quickly released.

Two car bombs exploded two minutes apart Wednesday outside a courthouse in downtown Johannesburg, killing three white policemen and injuring at least 15 other people. South African authorities blamed the outlawed African National Congress for the bombing, the 26th in the country so far this year and one of the most devastating attacks yet on the police here.

South African police arrested two white men in connection with three bomb blasts near Johannesburg, the second incident in two weeks in which white right-wingers are suspected. Two black men were injured slightly in an explosion at a mosque in Rustenburg. A post office and shop were also bombed. Police said Christiaan Harmse, 26, and Pierre Jacobs, 32, both mine workers, were arrested and held without bail.

Democracy dawned with a flourish across South Africa on Tuesday as hospital patients, pensioners, the disabled and other "special voters" flocked to this country's first all-race polls in unexpectedly high numbers and remarkably good spirits. The opening day of the historic three-day election for the post-apartheid government was marred by widespread confusion and hundreds of complaints of logistic problems and technical glitches at urban and rural polling stations.

South African Minister for Safety and Security Sydney Mufamadi vowed to end a wave of urban terror in Cape Town and catch the bombers who injured 11 people in a blast in the city Thursday. Police said earlier that Thursday's bomb at Cape Town's main police station was similar to 15 others used in attacks attributed to militant Muslims in the tourist center. Nine of the 11 victims were treated in hospitals. All but five, who were awaiting surgery for wounds and burns, were quickly released.

The late-night bomb exploded without warning, shattering windows in five shops and offices and scattering shrapnel that cratered concrete, pierced metal frames and splintered wood furniture. Amid the broken glass and debris, the target was obvious: The bomb--one of at least 30 tallied by police since late December--had been placed on the doormat of the recently opened office of the African National Congress.

A suspected hand-grenade attack killed a black man in Johannesburg on Saturday and injured 10 people just hours after a black hotel waiter died in a bomb blast. Altogether, three explosions rocked the city, ending a weeklong lull in urban terrorism blamed on white extremists opposed to racial reform. The first explosion ripped through an alleyway outside a hotel in the western suburb of Florida shortly after midnight Friday, killing the black waiter.

Accusing South Africa of sponsoring "terrorism" and engaging in "blatant aggression" against its neighbors, Michael S. Dukakis said Monday that if elected President he "would not rule out" giving military aid to the "front-line" states bordering the white-ruled nation.

A South African judge sentenced a guerrilla commander and nine others to terms ranging from two to 15 years for staging grenade and bomb attacks. Ashley Forbes, 22, commander of African National Congress guerrilla units in the Cape Town area, received a 15-year sentence after being convicted of a bomb attack at a bus shelter and three grenade attacks on homes of policemen. Sentenced to 14 years each were Peter Jacobs, 23, and Nicklo Pedro, 20. Anglican Archbishop Desmond M.

Two explosions in a crowded shopping area during the hectic Christmas Eve rush Tuesday killed three people, injured dozens and stunned residents of this sleepy town near Cape Town. "I am so sad," sobbed Jan April, who clung to his wife at a local hospital where their 9-year-old daughter, Juanina, was pronounced dead on arrival. "Whoever did this is cruel, very cruel." The early afternoon blasts at a large grocery store and a pharmacy a few blocks away were caused by pipe bombs, Police Supt.

Democracy dawned with a flourish across South Africa on Tuesday as hospital patients, pensioners, the disabled and other "special voters" flocked to this country's first all-race polls in unexpectedly high numbers and remarkably good spirits. The opening day of the historic three-day election for the post-apartheid government was marred by widespread confusion and hundreds of complaints of logistic problems and technical glitches at urban and rural polling stations.

A massive car bomb exploded Sunday near African National Congress offices in downtown Johannesburg, leaving at least nine people dead and about 100 injured two days before this tense nation goes to the polls in its first free elections. The explosion, the worst terrorist attack of the campaign, echoed across the country's commercial hub about 9:50 on a bright and sunny morning.

Under pressure to stem a mounting terror campaign, police arrested five white members of far-right militant groups Monday in connection with a wave of at least 32 bombings in the last two months. The most recent attack, late Sunday night, destroyed a day-care center for black children in Warmbad, a right-wing stronghold north of Pretoria. A powerful bomb blew the roof off, destroyed windows and furniture and damaged surrounding buildings and homes, police said.

The late-night bomb exploded without warning, shattering windows in five shops and offices and scattering shrapnel that cratered concrete, pierced metal frames and splintered wood furniture. Amid the broken glass and debris, the target was obvious: The bomb--one of at least 30 tallied by police since late December--had been placed on the doormat of the recently opened office of the African National Congress.

Clare Silberbauer was a slender, white 13-year-old, with wavy hair and a sunny smile. Last week, black terrorists opened fire on the car carrying her to school. She died two days later, a victim of "anger, frustration and violence," her mother said. Clare's death--and the killing of whites Sandra Mitchley and her 14-year-old son, Shaun Nel, in the same shooting spree--has generated unprecedented feelings of bitterness and fear across white South Africa.

Three suspected right-wing terrorists who escaped custody in Namibia have been linked to South African-based death squads believed responsible for assassinating two white activists, police said. The men, two South Africans and a West German, overpowered two police guards, seriously injuring one, and escaped in a waiting car with two accomplices near Windhoek, Namibia's territorial capital.

Back when Paul Simon's hit album "Graceland" first brought international fame to the music of oppressed black South Africans, the singer was vilified by anti-apartheid groups and did three weeks' time on the U.N. blacklist for violating the cultural boycott against Pretoria. Now, five years later, Simon is back in South Africa to help end the country's long cultural isolation with a five-concert, four-city tour that begins Saturday night in Johannesburg.

Let the record show that Joe Mphokeng did not want to be a township councilor in the first place. He was closing in on retirement, living comfortably, and he did not need the trouble. Dozens of black councilors and their families had been killed over the years by young radicals who said the councils were puppets of apartheid. But by 1988 the government had locked up its opponents, the townships were quiet and Mphokeng's friends persuaded him to run.